Means for handling puddled iron.



PATENTE D MAY 12 1903.

No. 727,669. I

M. MoDOWBLL. MEANS FOR HANDLING PUD'DLED IRON.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 13, 1902.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

N0 MODEL.

NAME E5 5 E5.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

M. MoDOWELL. MEANS FOR HANDLING PUDDLED IRON.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 13, 1902.

WTI E55 E5- I xaflwww PATENT Patented May 12,1903.

OFFICE.

MALCOLM MCDOWELL, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

MEANS FOR IHANID'LINGPUDDLED IRON.

SPECIFICATION forming part of LettersPate nt No. 727,669, dated May 12, 1903.

Application filed June 13, 1902.

To all whom it Wtay concern:

Be it known that I,MALcoLM MoDoWELL,a citizen of the United States of America, resid ing at Chicago, county of Cook, and State of V Illinois, have invented certain new and .use-; ful Improvements in Means for Handling Puddled Iron, of which the following is a de; scription.

My invention is designed as a meansfor handling large masses of "wrought-iron after the same has been treated in a rotary heating or balling furnace or equivalent apparatus and rolled into a ball. From this furnace the mass is withdrawn and delivered to a squeezer or to a rolling and forging machine and formed into a bloom. I

To this end my invention consists in the novel construction, arrangement, and combination of parts herein shown and described,

and more particularly pointed out i. vthe a part of a rotary baller, partly in section; to more clearly show the construction of myimprovement. Fig. 2 is a. top plan of the same. Fig. 3 is a partial sectioniuline 3 3 of Fig. 1, and Fig. 4 is asection in line 4 4 of Fig. 1.

In the drawings, 1 1 1 are rails laid'in front of a row or plurality of rotary heating and balling furnaces of any preferred construction. The rotating part 2 of such a furnace is shown in Figs. 1 and 2, said part being shown in section. known I have not shown the details of construction. A truck 3 is provided with wheels 4 4 4, constructed to run on said rails,whereby the truck may be readily transferred from one furnace to another, the truck thus shown moving transversely to its greatest length. The truck 3 is provided with rails 5 5, carrying a second truck or carriage 6, supported on wheels 7 7. The truck 3 is provided with a longitudinal cog-rack 8,with which a cog-wheel 9,carried by the truck 6,engages. Upon rotating the said cog-wheel in one direction or the other the position of the truck or carriage 6 on the truck 3 is controlled at will. Any preferred power may be employed to rotate the cog-wheel 9 and the other parts of the same.

Such furnaces being well SerialNo. 111,461. (No model.)

mechanism, electricity or compressed air being preferred. As shown, a storage battery 10 suppliesmotive force, a controller 11 and suitable switches (not shown) directing the If preferred, more than one controller maybe employed for this purpose. A

motor 12 supplies power to the cog-wheel 9, I and a motor 13 provides motive force to the truck3.

The truck 6 is provided with housings 14, pivotally supporting a transverse shaft 15. A longitudinal sleeve 16 is secured to the shaft 15 in such a manner that upon partially rotating the shaft 15 the sleeve 16 will be oscillated upon the said shaft as a center. Through the sleeve 16 extends a rotatable shaft 17, provided on the rear end with a handwheel 18 and on the other endwithahead 19. The head 19 is keyed or otherwise secured to the end of the shaft 17 and is provided with a plurality of metallic fingers 20, preferably five in number, secured thereto and curved to form aconcave-shaped fork, Figs. 1 and 2. Back of the head 19 a wheel 21 is loosely mounted on the shaft 17 and is wheel 21 are preferably fitted with mica 28 or other suitable transparent material, enabling the operator to view and conduct the operation of the fork within the furnace, and at the same time protect him from the heat therefrom.

The sleeve 16 is provided with a depending fan or sheet 29, corresponding to a segment of a wheel. The curved outer edge of said fan is provided with cogs meshing with a worm-screw 30, driven by a motor 31. The forward end of the segment 29 is extended to form a seat for the motor 23, driving the wheel 21. By operating the motor 31 the plane of the shaft 17 may be changed from a horizontal position to an inclination thereto, c'arrying with it the wheel 21 and elevating the fork 20, &c.

The truck 3 may be provided with any preferred form of brake. As shown, a strap 32 encircles a suitable part of one of the wheels wheels to contact with the upper flange of the beams 34. Normally,however,the wheels will contact with the lower flange of the beams. (See Figs. 3 and 4.)

All the levers and controlling mechanism are conveniently located, so that the operator standing on the carriage 6 between thewheel18 and the controller 11 may readily conduct the operation of the device without materially changing his position.

The mode of operation is as follows: The operator standing on the platform of the carriage 6 operates the motor 13, bringing the truck 3 in front of a furnace in which a puddled ball 35 is ready to be drawn. The operator controlling the furnace will remove the door closing the front end of the furnace. (Not shown.) The spoon or fork is then inverted, raising it to a position to enter the furnace and the motor 12 operated, moving the carriage 6 forward and passing the fork into the furnace. The clutch 25 being out of engagement, the operator by means of the hand-wheel 18 gives the fork 2O 20 a quarter-turn in the direction in which the furnace 2 is turning, causing the fork to drop over and be carried down between the puddled ball and the side of the furnace, the ball rolling over into the fork. The m0- tor 31 is then operated, lifting the fork with its load sufficiently to permit the carriage 6 to be backed, withdrawing the fork and ball from the furnace. The clutch 25 may then be engaged with the wheel 21, safely locking the fork in position, when the motor 13 may be operated, driving the truck 3 and its load to the squeezer, rolling, or forging machine. The motor 2% may then be operated, rotating the Wheel 21 and delivering the ball on the fork to said machine. The device may then be at once moved to the next furnace and the operation repeated. The great advantages gained by being thus enabled to handle much larger balls-for example, two thousand pounds instead of approximately five hundred pounds-at a time, thus preventing the stratification and laminations caused by piling in the usual manner, as well as the great economy of thus handling the iron, renders my invention of great value.

It is obvious after thus describing my improvement that many immaterial modifica- Lions may be made without departing from the spirit of my invention. Thus, for example, where I have described and shown wormscrews and cogged engagement, pinions may be employed, compressed air may be employed as a motive force, or, if preferred, truck 3 may be transported by hand instead of motive force. Such modifications, however, as well as others which would occur to those skilled in the art, are contemplated, and hav' ing shown the preferred means I do not wish to be understood as limiting myself thereto.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-- 1. In a device of the kind described, a movable truck, 3, in combination with a second truck 6, mounted upon said truck 3,and means for regulating the position of said second truck on said first truck at will, a shaft 17, carried by the truck 6, means for oscillating the shaft 17, on a center 15, a fork secured to the end of the shaft 17, and. a hand-wheel 18, secured to the shaft 17, substantially as described.

2. In a device of the kind described, a truck 3, provided with a movable truck 6, mounted thereon, and means for moving said truck 6, backward and forward at will, in combination with the oscillating shaft 17 provided with a fork 20, a wheel 21, loosely mounted upon the shaft 17, and means for rotating said wheel at will, and a clutch arranged to engage the wheel 21, with the shaft 17, so that the two will rotate in unison, substantially as for the purpose set forth.

3. In a device of the kind described, atruck 3, provided with a truck 6, mounted upon and movable thereon, and means for controlling the movements of the truck 6, upon the truck 3, at will, in combination with a transverse shaft 15, provided with a sleeve 16, a shaft 17, mounted in said sleeve 16, a segmental cogsegment 29, secured to said sleeve, means ongaging said cog-segment positively to control the oscillation of the sleeve 16, a fork secured to the outer end of the shaft 17 and operated thereby, and. means for forcibly rotating the shaft 17, at will, substantially as described.

4:. In a device of the kind described, a movable truck 3, provided with means for controlling the movement of said truck, and a brake for maintaining the truck in any desired position, in combination with a truck 6, mounted upon and carried by the truck 3, means for moving said truck 6, in a direction transverse to the line of travel of the truck 3, at will, a shaft 17, carried by the truck 6, provided upon one end with a hand-wheel18, and on the other end with a head 19, provided with a fork 20, means for oscillating the shaft 17, on a center 15, at will, a wheel 21, loosely mounted upon the shaft 17, means for rotating the wheel 21, at will and a clutch arranged to engage the wheel 21, with a shaft 17 at will, substantially as described.

5. In a device of the kind described, a movable truck, a second truck or carriage carried by the first and movable thereon, means for moving said second truck backward and forward at will, an extending fork carried by said second truck, and means for inverting and rotating said fork, in combination with a rotary heating and balling furnace having its a fork secured to said shaft, and means for rotating said shaft and the fork secured thereto, in combination with a rotary heating and balling furnace, having its opening arranged in line with said fork, whereby upon turning the fork against the side' of the furnace the rotation of the latter will deliver a ball therein to the fork, substantially as described.

7. In a device of the kind described, a truck 3, provided with a truck 6, mounted thereon, means for moving the truck 6, backward and forward upon the truck 3, at will, a shaft 17,

supported upon the truck 6, and arranged to oscillate upon a center 15, means for controlling the oscillation of said shaft at will, a fork secured to the outerend of the shaft 17, and means for rotating said shaft, in combination with a rotary heating and balling furnace having its opening arranged in line with said fork and shaft, whereby upon turning the fork against the side of the furnace the rotation of the latter will deli ver'a ball therein to said fork, substantially as described.

MALCOLM MCDOWELL.

Witnesses:

JOHN W. HILL, CHARLES I. COBB. 

